Plot

The episode starts with Gumball and Darwin clinging onto Nicole's ankles and begging for karate lessons. After Nicole reminds the two of numerous activities they have tried and given up, the boys promise not to quit martial arts after the first lesson and Nicole buys them uniforms. They then talk about how powerful they look, thinking themselves as fierce as a "sharkbearagator." They then make a pact to never remove their gis.

Afterwards, the two mimic karate moves, breaking objects around their house and at the bus stop. At their school, their classmates laugh at the two when they show off; the two remaining completely oblivious to the children's mockery. Nicole notices their classmates' ridicule and tells Gumball and Darwin to get in the car to go home, but Gumball talks to Penny first (she is visibly lost for words). In the car, Nicole tries to convince the boys that the students are bullying them, but they deny her claims and say that they are just laughing with them and even dubbed them "the Karate Wieners," unaware of what the name means and thinking of it as a mispronunciation of "Karate Winners."

When the boys arrive home, they watch Richard play Suburban Karate Master, and hear him wish that he could kick people like that in real life. He then compliments their gis and asks the two if they have a spare. The two say that they do not and note that Richard is not responsible enough to do so, either. The boys go outside and lip-synch a motivational song called "The Inner Warrior," while doing an air guitar. Nicole tries to explain the risk of the boys wearing the costumes to school but Richard ignores Nicole and joins the boys in lip-synching. Nicole then worries about how the costumes will ruin their lives, never gaining girlfriends or jobs, and still living at the house realizing that they have wasted their lives, so she decides to take action.

Nicole walks into the boys' room and sees them on the computer. They explain that there is a video of Darwin practicing his scissor kick on a can. Nicole asks them if they posted it, but they deny it, saying some kids at school did. Nicole tells them the video's title is making fun of them with it saying "Tae-Kwon Dorks," but they deny its negativity, citing the fact that Korean is hard to spell. She then tells the boys about what happened to Richard in the past when he ran around in his superhero costume as the "Cottontail Cavalier," making himself look bad. The boys ask what happened to the cape and Nicole tells them that she took it from Richard and hid it from him. Richard, overhearing Nicole, becomes upset, claiming that she said the president needed it and runs out of the door crying. Nicole reassures the boys that Richard was lucky to have someone who loved him for who he was during that time and it is not wise to act immature and let students laugh at them like Richard did. The boys then tell Nicole that they will give up the costumes and will act more mature than Richard did in his childhood, if it makes her happy.

The boys then sing a piano-accompanied song that life is about abandoning dreams and expectations and to be mediocre. They then say how good they would feel to wear the gis one last time since they are "cured" and can handle it. When they put them on, they find that they are addicted to wearing them and cannot handle it, but they do not care. The next morning they hide their costumes under other clothes and leave for school after being interrogated by Nicole, fibbing that the gis must be in the closet. Nicole then walks to the closet to get rid of the gis and realizes that they have lied to her. She sets off toward the school in the family car. At the school, Gumball takes off his cover and tell the students to watch them break twelve boards at lunch. During lunch, Gumball attempts to break eight boards and fails, injuring himself in the process. He then tells Darwin to lessen the amount to one and fails again, lying on the ground crying while the classmates continue to laugh at his pain and failure. Nicole arrives at that moment and notices Gumball upset with classmates laughing at him a fears that she is too late.

Penny then runs to defend Gumball telling the students that he is brave for being himself. Nicole watches this and then notices that she was wrong to prevent the boys from being themselves. Nearing the end of the episode, she gives Richard back his cape and urges him to put it on. He runs around and then crashes into a wall, the same way that he did in his childhood, reminiscing about how fun that was. Nicole then kisses Richard on the cheek as then the episode ends.

This episode, "The Ex," and "The Ad" are tied for shortest episode title so far, with only 5 letters.

The video "AWESOME BRICK BREAK" is seen again at the end of "The Secret."

This is the first time Gumball and Darwin are shown older.

Cultural References

In the beginning, Gumball and Darwin say please to Nicole in five (technically six) different languages. They are (in order): English (please), French (s'il te plaît), Spanish and Portuguese (por favor), German (bitte), and Hawaiian ('olu 'olu).

In Fusion Fall, one of Gumball's powers is Tae-Kwon Dork, with the description "Half bear, half shark, half alligator!", which is a reference to this episode.

Goofs/Errors

During the part where Gumball and Darwin are on the PC, Nicole unplugged the cord to the computer from the outlet, but after the flashback, it is back on, then off, then back on.

In Nicole's first slow motion flashback of Gumball, one can see that there was no karate costume under the coat sleeve Gumball was wearing.

When Gumball and Darwin start to sing "No More Gi," Gumball's ears disappear.

When Darwin states that the children at school call them 'The Karate Wieners' in the car, his eyebrows disappear.

Halfway through the episode, when Richard is playing a video game, the dpad on his controller is under his right thumb. That is, the controller is mirror reversed from the normal Super Famicom layout. At the end of the episode, he is playing again, but now the dpad is under his left thumb.

Other titles

Čeština (Czech): Úbor (The Suit)

Español (Spanish): El Karateca (The Karate)

Français (French): Le kimono (The Kimono)

Italiano (Italian): I torsoli del karate (The Torsels (Pieces of wood) for Karate)

Goofy GI's

[Gumball and Darwin are at home and getting ready for school. They brush their teeth, after which Gumball runs downstairs and tries to jump kick the door]

Gumball: Hi-yah!

[He smacks against it and drops to the floor, causing a painting to fall from the wall and onto his face. Next, Gumball pours cereal into a bowl and spins a spoon in his hand]

Gumball: Woo, yah-wah! Haa-yah! [Throws the spoon at Darwin]

Darwin: Yah! [Catches the spoon between his fins] Wahhh. [Eats the cereal]

[Outside, Gumball does a cartwheel, then kicks the bus sign. Darwin follows after him by doing somersaults. The bus pulls up, and the show skips to the end of the school day. Gumball and Darwin are standing on the sidewalk in front of some of their classmates, and Nicole drives up to collect them]

Darwin: That was the best day of my life! [Performing karate moves] Yah! Yah! Yah!

[Every student, except Penny, laughs]

Masami: Hey, why don't you fight Tina?

[They continue laughing]

Gumball: No, no-no-no. Our karate is strictly for self-defense.

Darwin: To misuse the power in this fin would bring terrible dishonor upon our dojo.

Banana Joe: Haha, do another flip!

[They laugh again]

Gumball: All right, just one more. Ha, for the fans... [Attempts a backflip, but lands face-first]

Darwin: Awesome!

[Everyone laughs]

Banana Joe: Kung-fool!

[Nicole watches from the car, upset]

Nicole: Boys, come on! Time to go.

Gumball: One second, Mom! [Walks up to Penny] Hey, Penny! Hi-yah. [Punches the air, startling her] What do you think of my new style?

Penny: Mmm. Very, um...

Gumball: Impressive?

Penny: Well... I like to see you happy.

Gumball: Thanks! Wa! [Fakes another punch] You need work on that defense, young lotus. Farewell.

[He gets into the passenger seat, Darwin sits in the back, and they head for home]

Gumball: Hi-yah!

[Gumball pretends to hit Nicole, nearly making her lose control of the vehicle]

Gumball: Flinched!

Nicole: [Chuckles nervously] Everything okay at school, honey?

Gumball: Yeah, school is awesome! Especially when you're wearing one of these.

Nicole: It's just that it... kinda looked like the kids were making fun of you back there.

Gumball: Yeah... Laughing with you can sound like laughing at you.

Darwin: They even called us the karate wieners!

Gumball: I think it's because we always "ween" at karate.

The Inner Warrior

[Back home, Richard is sitting on the couch playing a videogame. Gumball and Darwin are next to him]

Videogame announcer: Suburban Karate Master.

Richard: [After beating some enemies] Ha ha, in your face! Oh, I wish I could kick people like this in real life. [Notices Gumball and Darwin] Hey, nice costumes, guys. [Hushed] You have a spare one?

Gumball: Okay, dude. You know what a true warrior needs for a good warm-up?

Darwin: Mittens and a scarf?

Gumball: No, Darwin-san. [Turns on the boombox] Inspiration.

[Rock music plays; Gumball and Darwin lip-sync and dance to the song]

Lyrics: Every time I look in the mirror all I see is the inner warrior staring back at me!

You hit hard with your best shot, give it everything you've got. Warrior, be the warrior!

[Nicole and Richard are watching from the window]

Nicole: [Faces Richard] Oh Richard, I'm so worried about them.

Richard: [Turns around, revealing that he is also lip-syncing and air-guitaring] Why? It's a great track.

Lyrics: Bring 'em on, let 'em come, they will never keep you down.

Nicole: They're obsessed with those outfits, and the kids at school are making fun of them. [Looks at her sons]

Lyrics: Come on Warrior! Be the Warrior!

Nicole: You know how mean kids can be.

Lyrics: And you're the best that you can be.

Nicole: [Turns away from the window] Richard? [Sees him outside with Gumball and Darwin; Groans, then sighs] I know they're just costumes, but if people make fun of them, they'll never get girlfriends, or a job, and in twenty years' time they'll still be living here and wearing those ridiculous karate outfits!

[Nicole imagines what Gumball and Darwin will be like in the future. She pictures them overweight, unkempt, and playing a videogame in the living room]

Darwin: Gumball?

Gumball: Yeah?

Darwin: I think we wasted our lives.

Tae-Kwon Dorks

[Later, Gumball and Darwin are using the computer in their bedroom when Nicole walks in]

Gumball: No, I'm going to break twelve planks of wood with this hand! [Raises his hand]

Darwin: [Whispering] Are you crazy?

Gumball: No Darwin, I'M MORE SANE THAN I'VE EVER BEEN!

Nicole: [Driving on the highway; Angry] I can't believe they lied to me. I never should've given them those outfits! What was I thinking? [Honks the horn] Out of my way! My kids are in danger!.. Of becoming their father!

[At the school playground, Gumball is preparing to strike the planks in front of him]

Darwin: Dude, seriously how're you gonna do this?

Gumball: Ha, easy! I've seen loads of guys do it on the internet. All I have to do is hit it with my hand. Watch! [To the gathered crowd] Karate fans please, can I have a little hush?

Banana Joe: Yeah, quiet! I wanna hear him fail.

[All the classmates laugh at Gumball]

Darwin: Shhhh!

Gumball: Thank you, Darwin-san. [Inhales deeply] HI-YAH!

[Gumballs hits the wood, injuring his hand as he whimpers in pain. The classmates continue to laugh]

Gumball: Stop laughing! Don't you guys watch TV?! When you believe in yourself you can accomplish anything!

[He ineffectively hits the planks a few more times with his hands, then tries using his head]

Gumball: [Speaking into the wood] Aww man, it looked easier on the internet. [Stands up] Maybe I'll just do one plank.

[Darwin removes all the planks except for one]

Gumball: [Inhales deeply] HI-YAH!

[He stomps on the plank, to no effect, and growls. When he kicks the plank, it flies into his face, causing him to cry and fall forward]